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Report: No Permit, Residential Students Make-up Most Fall Parking Citations

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  Sign to event parking at The University of Texas at Tyler. (Source: James Hescock)  Over Christmas Break, I decided to look into the parking issue on-campus, starting with enforcement. I obtained the record of all parking citations for fall 2023 by a public information act request. Here is what I found. At UT-Tyler, parking enforcement issued 380 parking citations over the fall 2023 semester. It issued 152 citations for Parking Without A Valid Permit, 59 for Improper Space/Over Line and 48 for Parking In Area Not Designated (meaning, residential students parking on-campus). Overall, these were the top three violations and they made up 40%, 15% and 13% of all violations respectively. The parking department also received approximately 30 appeals from students, faculty and staff, according to a separate information request. Yet, on Nov. 14, Parking Appeals Committee Chair Ronald Carnes III, told student government that his committee receives roughly 30 to ...
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A Primer to University Governance - Part One

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  ( Photo : ''Court Gavel - Judge's Gavel - Courtroom'' by wp paarz via Flickr ) The following is a primer to internal university governance. When you're a student, it is easy when you want to do something for yourself. Want to drop a class or change your majo r ? That's no problem. Yet, the moment you want to do something for the student community, say end a student fee or save the mascot from extinction, then you enter the realm of campus politics. Reforming campus policy requires you engage with the structure of university governance and that you participate in a democratic process. For this, you need to understand the university’s governance structure and how the powers that be set university policy. To the average student, all of this can be quite foreign. So to help students understand university governance, here is a primer to university governance. Everyone can have an introductory understanding of university governance if they understand th...
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OPINION: Remember These Three Steps To Understand Student Fees

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("Money - Savings" by 401(K) - 2012 via Flickr) To the typical student, student fees can sometimes be difficult to understand. Many know they are out there, but they often do not understand why, how they work, or even what they can do about them. Students can understand student fees better if they follow these three steps: think of them as taxes, remember student government is a democracy and keep them separate from university fees. If a student follows these steps, then he will understand student fees better. First, students can understand student fees better if they think of them as taxes. In his College Student Affairs Journal article ''The History of Student Governance in Higher Education”, Walter P. May notes the genesis of both student fees and of student government. Early on, some students who lived at school eventually got bored with the curriculum and decided to pool their money to fund additional lectures on other subjects. For example, in addition to the b...
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OPINION: SGA's Inaction On Student Issues Not For Inability To Act

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    (Logo. Source: Student Government Association at UT-Tyler.) Student government elected a new chief of staff this week in a special meeting at the end of the semester. Senator Jennifer Chandler won the assembly's vote in a three-way race among two other current SGA members, Allison Schwartz and Tyler Paige. Student members spent nearly an hour both investigating and discussing who should be the next officer in the association's executive board. That members take such an interest in their organization's affairs is commendable. However, given that the assembly displayed how it has the capacity to both investigate and deliberate over a subject matter with rigor, then I ask, why it could not also demonstrate this same rigor in matters that are undeniably of popular student concern, such as unavailable parking space and advisor shortages? The assembly's ability to both convene a special session and to debate the issues at length demonstrate that members have the ability t...
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OPINION: SGA Election Awards Residential Students More Representation

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    (Logo. Source: Student Government Association at UT-Tyler.) Student government elected a new chief of staff this week in a special election at the end of the semester. Senator Jennifer Chandler won the assembly's vote in a three-way race among two other current SGA members, Allison Schwartz and Tyler Paige. In her campaign pitch to the assembly, Chandler championed her priority for inclusion and accessibility in SGA as well as her three years of experience as resident advisor (RA) in Ornelas Hall student housing.  With Chandler's election, Student government advances yet another residential student to a position of power. There is nothing is wrong with this in principle. After all, all students, both residential and commuter, have the right to participate in student government. However, given the obscurity with which SGA operates to most commuter students, it is mostly residential students who know about its activity and therefore stand the most to benefit from their ...
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This Week In Student Government - 12/5

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  (Source: via Flickr) Here is a recap of The Student Government Association at UT-Tyler's Dec. 5 meeting.  Summary Student government held a special session this week to elect a new Chief of Staff for its executive board.  SGA elected Honors College Senator Jennifer Chandler to the Chief of Staff role. Chandler beat competitors Allison Schwartz and Tyler Paige for the position. The association will not announce the vote totals, per SGA rules. Chandler, a senior, ran on a platform of promoting inclusion and accessibility with student government, as well as officiating respectful dialogue among senators. She called on her experience as a Ornelas Hall Resident Advisor and being the Honors LOGOS Student Senate President in her pitch to student government.  Her competitor Schwartz is a student athlete and fellow Rules Committee and Honors College member along with Chandler. Her other competitor Paige is an eagle scout and a Liberty Landing senator.  Nominees must ha...
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Weekly Crime Report - 12/2 - 12/9

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  (Source: "Dayton 06-20 19 38 - Dayton Police Department Police Car" by David Ellis, via Flickr) Here are the recent crime reports for UT-Tyler's main campus according to UTTPD's Daily Crime Log. For more information, visit UTTPD's Daily Crime Log  webpage . Harassment - Police encountered to an incident of harassment at Patriot Village Apartments on Dec. 6 at 4:16 p.m. Officials issued a criminal trespass warning and closed the case. Alcohol Offense - Police discovered an alcohol offense at Ornelas Hall on Dec. 3 at 8:44 p.m. Officials submitted a referral to Judicial Affairs.  Previously reported crime in December: Minor in Possession of Tobacco / Tobacco Products, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia - Police encountered an incident of Minor in Possession of Tobacco / Tobacco Products, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia between 3500 Old Omen Rd and 2611 Old Omen Rd on Nov. 28 at 10:45 a.m. Police issued a criminal trespass warning and a referral to Judicial ...
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